Charli XCX is in the midst of
promoting her upcoming album,
which is due in September, but
what’s this?

Suddenly we have a mixtape to
tide us over until the “Boom Clap”
singer’s third album. Released on
March 10, her mixtape Number 1
Angel comes to us in a glossy mishmash
of collaborations and styles.

The great thing about calling a
release a mixtape is that it gives the
artist so much room to experiment
and take risks. The record label’s
mentality of, “Oh it’s not an official
release it’s just a side album” means
artists can let us see more of their
raw and unpolished vision without
worrying about tanking their career.
This leaves us with tracks like the
raunchy sex-driven closer “Lipgloss”
or the choppy and always
upbeat “Roll With Me”.

Not every song will resonate with
you but that’s the great thing about
this mixtape; there’s a little bit of
something for everybody.

Charli said that the songs came
together over the course of about
two weeks, which explains why
some of the vocal melodies seem a
little thrown together at times. Most
of the musical missteps on this
compilation come from a degree of
carelessness, but Charli made up for
it by picking an all-star team of featured
artists. From MØ’s empowering
highlight verse at the end of
“3AM” to Uffie’s verse on “Babygirl”,
which channels the power of
M.I.A. to give an otherwise sweet
tooth song a bit of edge. The collaborations
on this album aren’t for the
sake of dropping names like “After
The Afterparty”’s Lil Yachty verse.
Each of these rappers and singers
bring a unique tone to Number 1
Angel that breathes fresh air into
the tracks.

Although this release can be
seen as a little more experimental,
Charli definitely isn’t shying away
from stepping into pop clichés like
the car-filled, trap-influenced opener
“Dreamer” or the blurred lines
of drugs and love in the fast-lane
found on “Drugs”. Charli knows
how to write a catchy pop track, but
two of the best songs on this album
come when Charli steps away from
the driving upbeat monotony of
club-focused music. The tracks in
question, “Emotional” and “White
Rose”, resonate surprising well
considering they sound like they
would be more at home on a Lana
Del Rey record. That is, if we were
to cut away all of Rey’s faux summertime
sadness.

Charli seems quite at home with
the more intimate vibes given
by the soft and lumbering synths
that wind their way through these
tracks. The songs have an incredibly
reflective aura despite the fact
that Charli is still singing about sex
and wanting lovers she can’t have.
Perhaps if Charli gave us an entire
album written around these tracks
we could finally put Lana Del Rey
out of business.

If there’s one thing I can really
say about this album, it’s that Charli
is keeping us all on our toes. With
two unique albums behind her, this
mixtape manages to launch itself
into an entirely different galaxy. To
view this as a pit stop on the road
to her next album would be an incredible
disservice to the project. Is
it as polished and flawless as True
Romance or Sucker? No. But does
it belong on any pre-drink playlist
worth its weight? Damn right it
does.

Perhaps the most important thing
about this album is that the productions
aren’t so thick that they
distract from Charli’s vocals. She
always seems to cut through and
transport us away from the party
of the club atmosphere she’s standing
in, no matter how verbose and
raunchy the rest of the track is (see
the sex-filled closer “Lipgloss). On
“ILY2” her swooping hook, short as
it is, comes to us in a nostalgic fueled
haze that feels intimate.

Even the telltale PC Music track
“Roll With Me” becomes almost
bearable when Charli’s hook comes
in to distract us from that annoying
car alarm going off in the back of
the entire song.

Rating: 3 out of 5

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Interrobang

The Interrobang is published weekly by the Fanshawe Student Union at 1001 Fanshawe College Blvd in London, Ontario and distributed throughout the Fanshawe College community.